Insulated roof



Sept. 18, 1928.

H. s. ASHENHURST INSULATED RooF Filed Feb. 16, 1925 Z'f" m6/55,'

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ppllicatnui tiled February lo, 1925. Serial No. 9,6%.

My invention relates to roofs tor buildings and has tor its objects'to provide .novel means for insulating such roots and a novel method ot installing the insulating material.

isa Well-known tact that a large percentage Aot the heat loss in building results romradiation through the roof, and that in order to avoid such loss, the root should be suitably insulated, preferably with a material that may be conveniently economically installed. either before, alter or during the erection ot the roern structure.

lin order to accomplish the desired result, l havedevised a roof and a method. oit in,- stalling` the same in which a cellular insulating' material is poured in place. 'lhe insulatinga material employed is preferably that disclosed in my rior ltteissue Patent No. 15,952, dated Novem' er 25, 19%, 'in which the major constituent is gypsum, the cellular structure being formed by combining' gas-evolvingy chemicals with the gypsum. 'lhe resulting structure is extremely light, y

The invention will be more readily under stood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which;

Fig. l is a sectional vievv through a roof showing the insulating material partly installed according tothe preferred method.

llig; 2 is 'a similar View showing partial insulation` according to another desirable method, and O Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of lf'lg. 1. v

lin the drawings, l have illustrated inclined rafters, 10, resting upon a side Wall, 1l, oit

any desired construction. ln this instance, the

plates 12 constitute the' bottom vvall of the space Within which the insulating matemal Fig. 1, the root boards, i3, are rested upon and secured 'to the top edges of the rafters, thev installation ot the boards being completed to the upper extremity of the root before the insulation is applied. Shingles, lil, are shown as a nal covering, but other terms of rooting material may be employed, Pret'- erably a layer of Waterproof paper, lll, is l0- cated beneath the roof boards. l

Secured to the inner itaces ot the rafters are Wood strips, l5, the vertical elevation of the strips being determined in accordance with the depth of insulation required., Thin boards or sheets, 16, are nent laid on the strips.

is received. ln the construction shown4 in' ll have found that the So-called plaster board, commonly in use, is most suitable it'or this purpose, By carrying` the outer sheeting,1l', up to tbe-roof boards and by the use 'of strips, 18, and 1,9, and a narrow vertical section ot plaster-board, l20, the Wall head space may be insulated it desiredl lin the insulationoitroot. as shown in Fig. l, the root boarding4 may be completed and thel shingles M- or other Weatherproof covering may be added. 'A sheet oplaster board lo is then laid on the strips, l5, at the lower end ot the insulating space,1 ln this condition, thel insulating material is prepared by adding to the dry material a quantity olf Water sutl'icientto produce a plastic, easily dovving mass, and is then poured into the Vspace above the plaster board The substance immediately expands or rises and sets Within a reasonable time Thereatterother plaster board sections are placed successively in position andy the operation ot pouring the material is repeated until .the space is lled toa point fairly close to the ridge pole.. 'llher remaining space at the top may be tilled With pre-cast blocks ofthe same material it desired. By this process, the'insulation may be installed in previously completed roofs,

llt, however, it is toundrno're desirable to pour the insulating materialv from above the roof, the arrangement may be made according to the illustration in Fig.' 2, in Which theI plaster boards are installed to the upper ex@- tremity ot lthe root and the ro'ot boards and shingles are placed 1n position in successive operations, a narroit7 portion at a time, the inf sulatin'g material being Vfollowing the completion of each separate portion. ln leither case, it `will be-jtound desirable to pour only a small volume of the plastic mass at one time, allowing it to rise and Q set before a successive pouring takes place. By reducing the hydrostatic pressure, the expansion will be greater, the material Willbe more cellular and the insulating eid'ect will be more pronounced.

f ll do not Wish to beliniited to any particular 'form ot insulating material, enceptas t-he saine may be specically claimed. l prefer, hovvevento use a material :termed by mixing With Water a dry mixture comprising 100 pounds of calcined gypsum, 3% ounces of commercial retarder, pounds of a suitable carbonate, such as calcium carbonate, and

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poured into position 121A;J pounds of aluminum sulphate containing its water of crystallization, all of such ingredients .being finely ground and thoroughly mixed in a dry state.

,The material so formed andcomprising gypsum as its principal ingredient is ,when set highly cellular, Weighing onl about 12 pounds per cubic foot., and it has een found to serve very eectively for insulating the roof with respect to sound and heat and also for fireproofing the roof.

The thickness of the monolithic body of in-` sulating material is determined by the location of the strips l5. Where the rafters are relatively shallow, and where a thick body of-v stances, the scope of the invention being determined by the claims. For example, the word rafters is used to designate structural elements whether of wood or of met-al, and

.the word boards to designate confining elements whether of plaster hoard, metal sheets, wood boards or flexible sheets such as tough waterproof paper.

i While vin ordinary cases it will bevfound desirable to pour the insulation in a step-bystep process,this maybe varied, the form elements being completed to the full height desired, and the insulation p oured into a vspace left open at the crown of the roof, the

space being completely filled at one time or in successive operations to permit the setting of lone batch before the next is poured.

The steps will be varied somewhat in insulating different kinds of roofs, for example, conical, ogee, hip, mansard and gable roofs.

In some instances, permanent roof boards may not be used, nailing strips being located at the required intervals for use in attaching the roofing. l

It will be understood also that I may in some cases insulate inclined roofs only part way to the crown then carry the insulation across to form the ceiling of a. room.

Where a previously built roof is to be insulated, to its full height from the inside, itl

will be found difficult to pour the material to fill the space at the to and this space may be filled with pre-forme blocks as .described in my co-pending application, Serial No. 9,640, filed of even date herewith.

A feature of novelty and utility in the roof as here disclosed is that it is not only effectively insulated but is substantially fire-proof, even if constructed with wood rafters. The monolithic body of cellular. mineral insulation is rmly sealed between the rafters and will protect them even though the roofing is destroyed.l Furthermore, no sparks or embers may drop-into the building and start an interior fire. Where the structural elements are steel, and plaster boards are used for conlining the mineral insulation, the roof is completely fireproof. A

InasmuehJ as the insulating and fireproofing material is very light, weighing, if desired, only 12 pounds or less per cubic foot, the roof load is not materially increased and complete protection may be secured at a very reasonable cost.

I claim: A

l. A roof comprising in combination rafters in spaced relation, a weatherproof covering secured to said rafters at their upper faces and held by said rafters substantially against vertical movement Withrespect thereto, sheet-like means secured to said rafters underneath the Weatherproof covering and in spaced relation to said weatherproof covering, and a light porous monolithic body hardened in highly cellular form in the enclosed space between the rafters in close contact with the surfaces of the weatherproof covering and the other space defining parts and extending in toall the irregularities of such surfaces.

2. The method of providing insulationin a frame roof structure', which comprises applying sheet-like closure means to the rafters underneath the weatherproof covering and in spaced relation thereto, and then completely filling the enclosed s ace with a light porous monolithic body o highly cellular insulating material produced in such space by the setting and hardening of a quantity of material poured into such space as a free-flowing plastic mass containing a high percentage of entrapped gas. t

Signed at Chicago, Ill., this 13th day of February, 1925.

HAROLD S. ASHENHURST.

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